October 2018 Existing-Home Sales

NAR released a summary of existing-home sales data showing that housing market activity this October, bounced back after six straight months of declines and was up 3.4 percent from last month, but dropped 5.1 percent from last year. October’s existing-home sales reached a 5.22 million seasonally adjusted annual rate.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $255,400 in October, up 3.8 percent from a year ago. This marks the 80th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.

Regionally, all four regions showed growth in prices from a year ago, with the South leading all regions with 3.8 percent. The Northeast had a gain of 3.0 percent followed by the Midwest with a gain of 2.4 percent. The West had the smallest gain of 1.9 percent from October 2017.

October’s inventory figures are down from last month 1.6 percent to 1.85 million homes for sale. Compared with October of 2017, there was a 2.8 percent increase in inventory levels. It will take 4.3 months to move the current level of inventory at the current sales pace. It takes approximately 32 days for a home to go from listing to a contract in the current housing market, down from 34 days a year ago.

From September 2018, only the Midwest experienced declines in sales of 0.8 percent. The West had the biggest incline of 2.8 percent followed by the South with a gain of 1.9 percent. The Northeast had the smallest increase of 1.5 percent.

All four regions showed declines in sales from a year ago. The West had the biggest drop in sales of 11.2 percent. The Northeast had a decline of 6.8 percent followed by the Midwest with a decline of 3.1 percent. The South had the smallest drop in sales of 2.3 percent. The South led all regions in percentage of national sales, accounting for 41.2 percent of the total, while the Northeast had the smallest share at 13.2 percent.

In October, single-family sales were up 0.9 percent and condominiums sales were up 5.3 percent compared to last month. Single-family home sales fell 5.3 percent and condominium sales were down 3.2 compared to a year ago. Single-family homes had an increase in price up 4.3 percent at $257,900 and condominiums fell 0.2 percent at $236,200 from October 2017.

It is one thing to report collected data, but quite another to provide sme actual analysis in relation to the data presented. The volume of Existing Home Sales reflects what has happened. Has there been any comparison to the data in regard to other data relating to buyer demand? How about the number of second home purchases as an overlay of EHS volume? Household formations? Household size? Any other data that would provide some insight into what the change(s) in the EHS volume might mean? Thanks in advance for any insight into the issue.